3For what I received I passed on to you as of first importancea : that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, 4that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures, 5and that he appeared to Cephas,b and then to the Twelve. 6After that, he appeared to more than five hundred of the brothers and sisters at the same time, most of whom are still living, though some have fallen asleep. 7Then he appeared to James, then to all the apostles, 8and last of all he appeared to me also, as to one abnormally born. (1 Corinthians 15:3-8)
Thoughts: The witness to the resurrection is listed here unlike any other passage. Cephas is Peter. It was important that Christ appeared to the one who had denied Jesus three times. The twelve is distinguished from "the apostles" in verse 7. Barnabas was considered an apostle- and later Paul was too. James is the brother of Jesus- a leader of the church in Jerusalem who was one of the first martyrs by Herod. The "five hundred" is important. This was Jesus appearance in Galilee (where he told the disciples to gather). They all saw him at once. Paul also said that if anyone wants to check up on their seeing Christ they can just ask any of them- most of them were still alive. This is important too. The New Testament was written with most eyewitnesses living who could corroborate what was being said.
Prayer: Give me grace, Lord to listen to the eyewitnesses and to have faith in you- the risen Lord.
No comments:
Post a Comment